iCRAG, the Science Foundation Research Centre in Applied Geoscience, and Geological Survey Ireland, a division of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, are excited to announce that applications are open for the Geoscience for Leaving Certificate Geography Teachers course for 2023.
The Geoscience for Leaving Certificate Geography Teachers course is a teacher CPD programme that pairs a practicing teacher with a geoscientist working in research, government, or industry to co-create a curriculum-facing teaching resource rooted in current geoscience practice.
Created by iCRAG and Geological Survey Ireland in 2021, the course is a unique space for stakeholders to come together to increase the awareness of geoscience within the Leaving Certificate geography curriculum. To date, 12 teachers from across Ireland have taken part in the course.
Geoscience is vital to our sustainable future and geography is the key gateway to geoscience for many students. Resources that have been created in previous years include lesson plans, module plans and fieldwork guides focused on everything from Irish geohazards to offshore wind potential. All resources created by participants in the course are made freely available for any teacher to use and can be accessed via the iCRAG and Geological Survey Ireland websites.
The course runs as a series of six evening sessions, one and a half hours in duration, spaced every fortnight between the 4th of October and early December. As the course takes place completely online, it is accessible to any teacher and geoscientist across Ireland. The course is free for all participants, and teachers will receive a certificate of participation and a printed copy of each resource after completing the course. With 20 geoscience practitioners signed up and counting, specialising in everything from peatland restoration to geothermal energy, the 2023 iteration of the course is already shaping up to be the biggest and most diverse yet!
Elspeth Sinclair, Education and Public Engagement Officer at iCRAG, said: “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Geological Survey Ireland once again to link the most recent advances in geoscience to the geography curriculum in a way that is both understandable and relevant.”
Dr Siobhán Power P Geo, Communications and Education at Geological Survey Ireland, said: “it is a pleasure to see this course grow each year and to see the engagement of the teachers and the geoscientists. We have more geoscientists from government and industry this year and this should lead to interesting lesson plans related to policy and the world of work. “
To sign up for this year’s Geoscience for Leaving Certificate Geography Teachers course visit this link: https://forms.gle/iJ5wWPfH8bawssu26. The deadline for applications is Friday, 29 September and places are limited, so act fast! For more information on the course, please contact elspeth.sinclair@icrag-centre.org or rory.selby-smith@gsi.ie.